Family attacked with swords for objecting to lewd remarks

The attack left the young woman, her sister and brother and their parents with cuts and wounds, but all of them are out of danger, Samir Sharma, additional deputy commissioner of police (west), said.

A man and his family members were allegedly attacked with a sword and an iron rod by group of men for objecting to lewd remarks passed on his teenage daughter in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar on Diwali night, the police said.

The police nabbed two of the four suspects and obtained their custody for two days to help catch two other alleged assailants. (HT Archives. Representative image)

The attack left the young woman, her sister and brother and their parents with cuts and wounds, but all of them are out of danger, Samir Sharma, additional deputy commissioner of police (west), said.

The police nabbed two of the four suspects and obtained their custody for two days to help catch two other alleged assailants.

Sharma said the accused men and the victims live in the same neighbourhood in Tilak Nagar. The victim’s family runs a street side stall.

Around 11pm on Diwali night, the two sisters -- aged 18 and 20 -- were standing outside their house when a neighbour allegedly said something objectionable to the younger woman, the police officer said.

The officer said the woman’s father objected to the behaviour, but he responded by fighting with the family. “Soon, the man was joined by three other men who were armed with a sword and an iron rod,” Sharma said.

In the assault that followed, the father of the two women received the most grievous injuries while the other four family members sustained relatively less serious wounds.

A caller initially informed the police control room that the hands of the two sisters were chopped off and their father was decapitated, Sharma said.

But when the police reached the spot, the injuries weren’t as serious as the caller had made it out to be, the officer said. They were taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where they are undergoing treatment.

The police subsequently nabbed the alleged attacker and another suspect.

Police said they initially registered a case of attempt to murder given the nature of injuries to the women’s father and a case of causing hurt with dangerous weapons for wounds received by the other members of the family.

Later, on the statement of the woman who was allegedly being harassed, the police added sections of molestation, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.

“The woman’s statement is being recorded in court and the investigation into the assault continues,” Sharma said.